Incheon Port Vehicle Exports Increase by 44% in First Half of This Year... Used Cars Set Record High

The number of cars exported through Incheon Port in the first half of this year surged by 44.4% compared to the same period last year. In particular, used cars showed the highest export performance ever recorded.

According to the Incheon Port Authority (IPA) on the 1st, the export performance of cars through Incheon Port in the first half of this year was recorded at 367,192 units. Among the exported cars, used cars accounted for 234,614 units and new cars for 132,578 units, increasing by 56.9% and 26.6%, respectively.

Especially, this year’s used car exports increased by 19.9% compared to 195,656 units in the first half of 2019, the highest ever, marking the largest number of exports for the first half of any year. The number of used cars exported through Incheon Port decreased after reaching a record high of 47,415 units in May 2021, dropping to a record low of 18,920 units in June last year, but has returned to an upward trend, recording the second highest ever at 46,093 units in June this year.

Used cars are being loaded at Incheon Port.
[Photo by Incheon Port Authority]

Annual used car exports from South Korea surpassed 10,000 units in 1993, 100,000 units in 2001, 300,000 units in 2004, and 400,000 units in 2019. The proportion of used car exports handled by Incheon Port among the total used car exports from South Korea reached a peak of 89.5% in 2019, and the share for the first half of this year is 76.3%.

The country-wise share of used car exports through Incheon Port in the first half of this year is Libya 26.4%, T?rkiye 11.1%, Egypt 10.9%, Jordan 7.1%, and Kyrgyzstan 5.9%, among others. There are two methods for exporting used cars from Incheon Port: loading onto car carriers at the inner port, and loading into containers which are then loaded onto container ships at the container terminals in the new port or the south port.

According to customs data, among the used cars exported through Incheon Port in the first half of this year, 50,841 units were loaded onto car carriers, and 183,773 units were loaded onto container ships. This is analyzed as a clear trend toward containerization of used car exports following the sharp drop in container freight rates at the end of last year.

An IPA official stated, "The driving force behind container cargo volume this year depends on used car exports and related cargo volumes," adding, "We will do our best to steadily establish the Smart Auto Valley (Incheon South Port used car export complex) to expand used car exports and to discover various cargo items that can drive cargo volume at Incheon Port."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.